


Revelations

by enchanting_serendipity



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, in this house we pretend endgame didn't happen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:08:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23655112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enchanting_serendipity/pseuds/enchanting_serendipity
Summary: Secrets are revealed and pasts are shared as Tony and Pepper spend a lazy day in bed
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 2
Kudos: 37





	Revelations

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This is officially my first post on AO3. I haven't written fanfiction in years, so please be kind. I just love Tony and Pepper, and there's not much else to do during the quarantine so I felt inspired. I hope you are all doing well and staying safe. Please let me know if you like it!
> 
> Also, despite what the tags may lead you to believe, there's nothing graphic in this story. It just references an event that's already passed, but I tagged it the way I did to be safe. With that said, please don't read it if you believe it could be triggering.
> 
> P.S.: The butterfly story is a true one based on my own experience.

“Tell me something about yourself. Something I don’t know.” His voice was low and content. They were in bed. Pepper was nestled in his arms, her head resting against his chest and her legs intertwined with his. In that moment it was as if they were one being, both body and soul. As if they had merely been separated, living a life that was only half fulfilled until they stumbled into each other’s lives and finally became whole.

Tony did this quite often. Implored her to share little tidbits of her life with him. She didn’t know how anyone could claim he was selfish or heartless. He cared more than anyone she had ever been with before. He was always trying to find out more and more about her life, her experiences, and who she was as a person. He made far more of an effort with it than any of her exes had, and she could tell that he was genuine. That he wanted to know her and know her deeply.

“When I was nine, my grandfather got me a glass case with the most beautiful butterflies mounted inside,” Pepper began. She was staring at the ceiling as she recounted the story, but she could tell Tony was watching her intently.

“It was my Christmas gift from him. He had acquired it on a vacation, I can’t remember where to. But anyway, I opened the package, saw the butterflies, and promptly burst into tears.” Pepper huffed out a laugh at the memory. “I turned to my parents and managed to say ‘it’s dead butterflies’ through my tears. My poor grandfather felt horrible. The butterflies were beautiful, but they still remain the worst Christmas gift I’ve ever received.”

Pepper twisted to meet Tony’s amused gaze.

“Well, that certainly makes me feel better about my own gift giving skills. At least my giant bunny didn’t reduce you to tears.”

Tony winked as he teased her, but Pepper still rolled her eyes fondly.

“Yes, congratulations. Your giant bunny is only the second worst Christmas gift I’ve ever received. Would like me to put that on a t-shirt for you?”

“In fact, I would. I can picture it now:  _ I Gave Pepper Potts Her Second Worst Christmas Gift Ever _ . It’s quite a feat, you know.”

“Is it?”

“Oh, absolutely.”

He was looking at her with a soft grin that she couldn’t help but return.

“In all seriousness, honey, I find it quite endearing that you were upset over the butterflies. It shows your compassion. You’ve always been a compassionate person.” His loving smile shifted into a more mischievous grin. “And of course, I’ll make sure to have JARVIS cross dead butterflies off the Christmas list for this year. You got that, J?” He added.

“Of course, sir. I will amend the list immediately.” The amount sarcasm that oozed from the voice of an artificial being never failed to impress Pepper.

But she refocused her attention on Tony.

“Your turn,” she murmured, rubbing gentle circles on his neck with her thumbs. “I want to learn more about you too, Tony.”

He glanced away, his smile faltering for just the slightest moment in the manner that told her exactly what he was thinking. He didn’t understand why she would want to hear him talk about himself. But he obliged her without protest.

“Did I ever tell you about the time I accidentally went on a blind date with Princess Diana?” He grinned, waiting for Pepper’s response.

“You what?!” Pepper’s eyes were wider than he had ever seen them.

“Well you see, it was all a big misunderstanding. It was in the late 80s, I think. I was young. You know of my history with women, but despite what it looked like, I was never opposed to settling down with someone. It just took finding the right person..”

His eyes flitted towards hers and then away again. Pepper gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

“Anyway, one of my college acquaintances told me I would love his cousin, Diana. So I agreed to meet up with her, see if we clicked, you know the drill. I got in touch with her, and we settled on a fancy restaurant. I can’t remember the name or if it’s even still around, but it was quite popular back in the day. Popular enough that celebrities liked to dine there. They had a private room in the back where they seat their famous guests to provide them with privacy. I told them I was meeting someone by the name of Diana, because I wasn’t sure if she was there yet, and they ushered me into the private room. Now, I assumed this was because I was Howard Stark’s son. It was not uncommon for me to dine in a separate room away from the normal patrons. But the waiter showed me to my table where a blonde woman was looking over a menu. I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this,” Tony grinned at Pepper who was captivated by the story.

“The beautiful blonde woman looked up from her menu, and I found myself face to face with Princess Diana herself. Now, I just gaped at her for a moment, because despite being famous myself and rubbing shoulders with celebrities all the time, I was not expecting myself to be seated across from a princess.” Tony shook his head and chuckled fondly at the memory.

“‘You’re not my sister,’ was the first thing she said to me, but she was smiling at me so she didn’t seem mad. I explained that I was supposed to be on a blind date with someone named Diana and that the waitstaff must have seated me with the wrong Diana. I was a teenager and fumbling out an apology to the princess herself. That was one of the few times in my life where I couldn’t maintain my confident, composed exterior.”

Pepper couldn’t help but laugh as she imagined teenage Tony anxiously apologizing to Princess Diana. Tony grinned back at her, laughing in the way one does when looking back on an event that was terribly mortifying at the time but an incredibly funny memory years later.

“She assured me that it was fine. Her sister must have been running late, and I was welcome to join her until my date arrived. We talked for, I don’t know… 30 minutes to an hour. She told me about her kids. William and Harry were young back then. And I shared stories about my college experiences. Of course, only the ones that would have been appropriate for the future Queen of England. At least that’s what she was at the time.”

He smiled sadly, and Pepper knew he was thinking about her tragic, untimely death.

“We kept in touch, actually. We wrote letters and actually became quite close. Our friendship was unconventional, of course. I was the young playboy and son of Howard Stark, and she was married to the heir of the British throne. And I promise, we were just friends. Nothing else happened between us. That was actually the only time I met her in person. But we wrote and eventually shared the struggles of our lives. Mine were mostly about Howard. And then my parents’ deaths. She was actually a great comfort to me when they passed. And she confided in me about her own struggles. I was very heartbroken when she passed away.”

He took a deep breath. Pepper squeezed him tightly.

“I was grateful to have her friendship, though. She was a remarkable woman.”

“It sure sounds like it. I’m glad you got to know her like that. It’s still hard for me to process though,” Pepper laughed, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that Tony was friends with Princess Diana.

Tony nodded knowingly.

“Yeah, I didn’t mean to spring that on you. I’d imagine it was unexpected. I still have the letters though, if you wanted to see them. You’re the only person I’d trust them with, because they are very private and of course important to me. In the wrong hands, you know how they could leak and Di wouldn’t have wanted that at all. She was a very private person. But I’d let you see them.”

His eyes were gentle and sincere, and Pepper felt full to the brim with love for him in that moment.

“Thank you, Tony. Maybe someday if you really are okay with that.”

“Of course, Pepper.”

His hand wrapped around one of hers, and he brought it to his lips, pressing gentle kisses against her knuckles. She lifted her other hand up to his face, cupping his cheek and running her fingers through his hair.

He placed a final kiss on her knuckle and lifted his head to look her in the eye.

“Your turn. If you still want to, that is.”

Pepper nodded, gently detangling herself from his arms to reach for the glass of water on her bedside table.

She sipped it quietly, knots forming in her stomach. She knew what she was going to say next, and she was trying to prepare herself. He just watched her. She knew he could tell there was a shift in the atmosphere between them, and he didn’t seem to know how to approach it. So he just waited.

Pepper placed the glass back on the table and took a deep breath. She crossed her arms, remaining on her side of the bed instead of returning to the comfort of his arms, and she could tell that he noticed this. He sat up, watching her silently, confused but encouraging her with his eyes.

“Um… my next one isn’t really a fun fact. At all.”

She took a shaky breath.

“It’s something that I want to tell you, though. That I’ve tried to figure out how to tell you, but there’s never really a good time to share something like this so I figured now’s as good a time as any.”

She met his gaze for a moment. His eyebrows were furrowed, and he was watching her intently.

“Okay, Pepper. You know you can tell me anything.” He replied softly.

She nodded and looked away. She didn’t think she could watch him. Not when she told him this.

“When I was 18, I was a freshman in college. I’ve always been the studious type, and my main goal was to get ahead in life, so instead of joining a sorority and going to parties and getting drunk on a Tuesday night like the rest of my classmates, I buried myself in my studies. I spent my free time studying at the library. I did have a few friends though, and they respected that I was dedicated to my work but still tried to get me to join them. One day when they were trying to convince me, it was a Friday and I had just aced a really difficult advanced calculus exam, so when they asked me to join them at a party I agreed.”

She paused to take a breath, still refusing to look at Tony. He was silent. She knew he knew where this story was headed. She couldn’t face him.

“One of my friends was named Tyler. He had asked me out a few times, but I always politely refused. I thought he was okay with that. That he knew I wanted to focus on my schoolwork and didn’t have the time to put effort into a relationship. I still considered him a friend. Well anyway, he was part of the group that went partying that night. At some point during the night, I was already a few drinks in and had to go to the restroom. So I asked him to hold my drink. You know how they say don’t leave your drink unattended or someone might spike it, so I thought I was being careful and left it with my  _ friend _ . I trusted him.”

She huffed out a bitter laugh.

“I was so stupid… I came back from the bathroom and took my drink back from him and didn’t think twice about it. Until I started feeling really really tired.”

A traitorous tear rolled down her cheek. She was fighting so hard to keep them at bay.

“And then I woke up in one of the bedrooms, and he was on top of me. I tried to push him off, but I was still sluggish from whatever drugs were still in my system, and he pinned me down. So I just laid there and cried until he finished and left me there.”

She was shaking at this point. She wrapped her arms more tightly around herself in a feeble attempt to hold herself together.

“I don’t know how long I stayed there in that bed. In that random house. At a party I didn’t really want to be at in the first place. My roommate found me. She managed to get enough details out of me to figure out what happened and took me home. The next morning she convinced me to report it to the campus police. But when they interrogated him, he insisted it was consensual. They said they couldn’t find any evidence to prove otherwise, but I have a feeling it had something to do with the fact that his father was a wealthy alumni, if you know what I mean. So he got off. And I have to live with myself, knowing that he did that to me and that he got away with it.”

She finally worked up the courage to look at Tony.

He looked completely wrecked.

“Pepper…” he managed, hoarsely.

She straightened, waiting for him to just say anything other than her name, and  _ why was she so scared? _

“Pepper, can I hug you?” He implored, looking completely lost as to what else he should do.

But it turned out to be exactly what she needed.

She fell into his arms, and the relief came crashing over her in waves. She was home. She was safe. She had told Tony. He didn’t hate her. It was over.  _ She was safe _ .

He cradled her tightly to his chest, his tears falling onto her hair, and her own soaking his shirt.

After a minute of just holding her, he shifted until he was able to look her in the eye.

“Pepper, you know this doesn’t change anything about how I look at you, right? If anything, it shows me how incredibly strong you are. You are so so strong.”

He held eye contact with her, as if waiting for confirmation, but she couldn’t give it.

“I shouldn’t have left my drink with him. I should have known better.”

Just voicing the concerns that had plagued her for decades now felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

“No,” Tony’s voice was firm.

“None of that is on you. It is his fault, and his fault only. You trusted him because he was your friend. You did nothing wrong. The fault is completely and entirely on him, because he is a fucking monster and a predator. You did nothing wrong, Pepper. Nothing. None of it is your fault.”

He stared at her, imploring her to believe his words, and Pepper couldn’t help it when the tears began to rise again.

His eyes widened, fear written all over them, and she knew he misunderstood the reason, so she buried her face in his chest again and whispered, “thank you.”

She took a shaky breath before continuing.

“I needed to hear that. Thank you, Tony.”

“You don’t need to thank me, Pepper. Not at all. Not for this.”

His hand began to shakily stroke through her hair, and the sensation was soothing.

“I hope you know I’m going to track down that asshole and make him pay,” came his quiet voice, the harsh words a sharp contrast from the soft tone in which he said them.

Pepper only held on to him more tightly, ready to receive closure once and for all.

“Please do.”

They slipped into silence, tangled in each other’s arms.

They lay there for what felt like hours, just holding each other.

Finally Tony broke the silence.

“I love you. So much. I don’t tell you that enough.”

Pepper smiled.

“Tony, you tell me at least once a day.”

“Still not enough.”

“Well I love you too.”

They eventually drifted off to sleep.

And if the next day, Tyler Robertson was at the police station, covered just about head to toe with bruises and nursing a broken arm, collarbone, and kneecap, willing to confess and receiving life in prison, well, no one could trace it back to the couple nestled comfortably in bed, quietly sharing their pasts with each other.


End file.
